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Once judged too extreme for federal bench, former GALEO board member Dax Lopez appointed to Georgia’s Judicial Qualifications Commission #JQC

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DeKalb State Court Judge Dax Lopez. Image: Daily Signal

 

Lopez’s involvement as a member of the board of directors of the anti-enforcement GALEO after he became a state judge was the deal killer for federal bench confirmation in 2016.

 

The Georgia Supreme Court has announced the appointment of former DeKalb Co. Judge Dax Lopez to the Hearing Panel of the Judicial Qualifications Commission.

“López, a former DeKalb County State Court Judge now in private practice, will replace Jamala McFadden, who is completing five years of service on the JQC and was recently appointed by the Court to serve on the Board to Determine Fitness of Bar Applicants, which is part of the Court’s Office of Bar Admissions. López will begin his four-year term on July 1, 2022.

The Judicial Qualifications Commission is the constitutional body that educates Georgia judges about their ethical duties and conducts investigations and hearings regarding judges’ misconduct. The JQC’s Hearing Panel consists of one judge member, one attorney member, and one non-lawyer citizen member. The Hearing Panel adjudicates formal charges made against judges, makes recommendations to the Supreme Court as to disciplinary and incapacity orders against judges, and issues formal advisory opinions.” goes the Court’s media release.

Lopez was nominated to become a federal judge in Georgia’s Northern District by then President Barack Obama in 2015. The required Senate confirmation process ended in early 2016 when then Georgia Senator David Perdue refused to send in the “Blue Slip” granting his approval of the nomination. Perdue cited Lopez’ long history of aiding and assisting the rabidly anti-enforcement GALEO Inc and Lopez’ membership on the GALEO board as cause to doubt Lopez’ suitability as a federal judge.”…there were some things that gave me great concern with regard to naming him to a lifetime appointment to a federal bench” Perdue told Politico at the time.

Lopez served as Keynote speaker at a GALEO funder after he became a judge. Jane Fonda is a GALEO “Founding Friend.”

Image: GALEO Facebook

The Dustin Inman Society has tracked and recorded GALEO activities for nearly two decades and was proud to be invited to meet with Sen. Perdue’s senior staff and legal counsel and to provide information on GALEO, its Executive Director, Jerry Gonzalez, and Lopez’ involvement. Readers who are not familiar with the story or corporate-funded GALEO can see here for “a beginner’s guide” to the leftist group.

It usually amazes readers to know that Coca-Cola and Georgia Power are two of the corporations that fund GALEO.

Current GOP state Senator Jason Anavitarte is also a former GALEO board member.

 

 

Are illegal aliens receiving taxpayer-funded rental assistance in Georgia? Update: Yes, they are.

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Rising rents in South Georgia are leading to more eviction filings, according to WALB. (Hat tip, Georgia Pundit)

“Experts say nationally, rent hit sharp increases in the last year — up to 40% in some cities. This is making it hard for some to be able to keep a healthy living.

Many families in Valdosta will soon be thrown out of their homes. That’s because funding from the Georgia Rural Assistance Program is ending soon.

South Georgia’s Partnership To End Homelessness Director Dr. Ronnie Mathis said his office is overwhelmed with applications from 18 different counties needing rental assistance.

Mathis said the state’s rental assistance program does in fact work. But, the concern is how long the process takes. The office got a grant for $30,000 but that money was dispersed within 45 days.

“Time is of the essence with this. We really need Georgia rental assistance to speed up the process and if South Georgia’s Partnership is going to be one of the partnerships with them, we want them to be more involved with us,” Robinson said…”

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Update, June 3, 2020 10:30 AM: The federal law creating the Emergency Rental Assistance Program does not have immigration status limitations. Shorter: Yes, illegal aliens can and have accessed taxpayer-funded rental assistance.

We are in the process of confirming that DCA does not ask about citizenship or immigration status.

OCGA 50-36-1 requires verification of “lawful presence” for public benefits, including rent assistance and housing grants.

CHAPTER 36 – VERIFICATION OF LAWFUL PRESENCE WITHIN UNITED STATES
§ 50-36-1 – Verification requirements, procedures, and conditions; exceptions; regulations; criminal and other penalties for violations

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Department of Community Affairs “we’re here to help”  link.

It should be noted that more than 20,000 illegal aliens have Georgia drivers licenses and ID Cards.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals and the GA AG tell us DACA recipients have no “lawful presence” or legal status .

But, I see no question that asks for information on or proof of legal immigration status.

Part of application for benefits:

 

 

Georgia birth certificates can be amended to change sex (not our issue)

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Photo: Atlanta Birth Care.

 

Where is the rest of the story?

From a WSB TV report taken from Google (I am happy to report that I have not watched TV news of any description since sometime mid-2017) – the Georgia High School Association, representing 463 high schools, voted unanimously to go back to their 2017 bylaws, which said all high school athletes must compete based on the gender that is on the athlete’s birth certificate.

What this story and the sound bytes I have heard on radio “news” doesn’t mention is that according to Georgia law (OCGA 31-10-23, paragraph (e) ), birth certificates can lawfully be amended to change the sex of an individual born in Georgia. See the link on the bottom of this post.

Section 31-10-23 – Amendment of certificates or reports

(e) “Upon receipt of a certified copy of a court order indicating the sex of an individual born in this state has been changed by surgical procedure and that such individual’s name has been changed, the certificate of birth of such individual shall be amended as prescribed by regulation.”

It seems relevant. It seems like part of the story.

This is not my issue and not the subject of this website. I put it here because I can.

Here is a link to the text of the entire state law. I am trying to find out exactly when paragraph (e) was added ( I think maybe 2004), what legislator was lead sponsor, who the cosponsors were, vote record and reasoning for the need for passage.

You can change genders on your Georgia drivers license too!

dak

Affidavit for Amendment (Form 3977) – Revised

 

Federal judge rules UNT can’t charge out-of-state American students more tuition than illegal aliens #HB120

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Illegal aliens protest to demand “equity.” Image: Twitter

We note the below news does not bode well for the Georgia Chamber of Commerce (and Dalton rep Kasey Carpenter, HB 120) push to see state legislation passed to do exactly what this federal court has stopped.

TexasTribune.org

April 13, 2022

The lawsuit against the University of North Texas argues out-of-state American citizens shouldn’t pay more than undocumented Texans. A federal judge agreed

A federal judge has ruled that the University of North Texas can’t charge out-of-state American students higher tuition than undocumented Texans who qualify for lower in-state tuition under a 2001 Texas law.

UNT lawyers appealed last week’s decision by U.S. District Judge Sean Jordan, a Trump appointee, over the weekend. If upheld, the decision could impact other Texas public universities, which depend financially on charging higher out-of-state student tuition.

The ruling centers on Texas’ 2001 law allowing undocumented students who have lived in Texas for three years and graduate from a Texas high school to pay in-state tuition.

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This recent challenge by the Texas Public Policy Foundation, on behalf of the student organization the Young Conservatives of Texas, could provide a new path forward for some Texas lawmakers who have wanted to eliminate the in-state tuition benefit for undocumented students since at least 2015.

In 2021, a little more than 22,000 students were enrolled in Texas colleges and universities using this benefit.

Two years ago, the right-leaning TPPF filed the lawsuit, pointing out that the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 states that an individual “who does not legally reside in the United States should not be eligible for a postsecondary education benefit granted on the basis of where someone lives unless United States citizens qualify for the same benefit.” Therefore, they argued, out-of-state students shouldn’t have to pay more than undocumented Texas students.

Jordan, the federal judge, agreed.

Other university systems in the state said they are still reviewing this ruling.

But Thomas A. Saenz, president of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, criticized the judge’s ruling…. more here.

 

Georgia Budget and Policy Institute’s Senior Policy Analyst for Higher Education Should Apologize to State Legislators @GABudget

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Image: Twitter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jennifer Lee should correct her agenda-driven inaccuracy

Now that yet another instate tuition for illegal aliens bill (HB 120) has been stopped in Georgia, when will the GBPI board post a correction and apologize to trusting state legislators for fake “facts” ?

FACT: “Illegal aliens who have been awarded deferred action on deportation proceedings through the DACA amnesty by both the Obama and Trump administrations are illegal aliens and do not have “lawful presence” says the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. The decision was handed down March 6, 2019.”

Fast Fact: Appellate Court: Not lawfully present, illegal aliens with DACA are illegal aliens – Georgia issuing public benefits based on disputed status, D.A. King, on ImmigrationPoliticsGA.com, March 8, 2019

FICTION: “Estrada is one of about 21,600 undocumented young people who participate in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in Georgia. Through DACA, she is lawfully present in the U.S., but Georgia policy requires she pay out-of-state tuition rates three times higher than in-state tuition.”

 “Extending In-state Tuition to Dreamers Creates Opportunity for Georgia” – Jennifer Lee, Senior Policy Analyst for Higher Education, Georgia Budget and Policy Institute,  April 23, 2019

Photo: Twitter

 

 

SB 601 “school choice!” passes senate committee this morning with zero public comment allowed (Sen. Chuck Payne, Chairman) – still no workable exclusion for illegal aliens

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Ecstatic supporters of SB 601 pose with Sen Miller after his “school choice!” bill passes out of committee March 8, 2022.

Update: noon, March 16, 2022 – SB 601 failed to see final passage on the senate floor yesterday by a vote of 20-29. It’s dead. Also of note: Sen Jason Anavitarte voted “YES do pass” in committee but then voted “NO” on the floor after we sent this column to the entire GOP Senate caucus. More here.

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 Update:  A phone conversation with the Senate President Pro Tem’s Chief of Staff, Steve Tippins

12:05 PM MARCH 9, 2022. I just got the promised call from Steve Tippins, Sen Butch Miller’s Chief of Staff who said he is pretty comfy with the unworkable and poorly researched language (his, apparently) they concocted on almost excluding illegal alien students from SB 601. He did not want to talk about the illegal alien parents who would be involved in handling state money and could easily have oversight on the spending rules. Tippens told me he was getting calls from members who don’t want to deal with the illegal immigration issue at all. For clarity, I asked him “you mean you are hearing from senate members who do not want to answer questions about excluding illegal aliens from Sen Miller’s “school choice” bill?” – “yes,” was his answer. It was very enlightening. But not surprising.

Tippins allowed that he would check with “lawyers here” to ask if they agreed with my recommended fix – which he judged far too involved even though he would not let me finish my short explanation of what needed to be done. I did not ask if he would be checking with the same lawyers who helped him create the unworkable “exclusion” wording in the bill now. I was assured that SB 601 is meant to become law and not a campaign ploy.

He told me he wanted any change on the illegal immigration topic in “school choice!” to be “as surgical as possible” – meaning he didn’t want to draw attention to that matter in SB 6o1. There is more.

While I have only been involved in drafting numerous pieces of legislation (many of those bills are now law) and immigration politics under the Gold Dome since 2005, this was the most incredibly arrogant conversation I have ever had with any staffer – or legislator. It was very educational. SMH

Contact info here.

dak

Text of SB 601 here.

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Update: My favorite exchange is when Sen Miller tells Sen. Jackson that the legislature may not a budget any money to the “school choice!” project that so many people think is going to allow all K-12 students in GA to access state funds for private schools.

“Senator Jackson: (04:47)
What’s the estimated cost? this how much do you think this will…

Sen. Butch Miller, “Mr. Pro Tem”: (04:50)
Well, it’s just within appropriation. So it might be, I mean, they might not appropriate anything.”

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Our view is that providing taxpayer funded benefits not already mandated by federal law to illegal aliens does not represent conservative values.

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SB 601 passed out of its senate committee about 10:00 AM this morning. I will post a transcript of the hearing and access to video soon.

Update: Video here then March 8, 2022 then 27:26 on the counter.

Transcript here.

Update: Transcript cost to me: $57.50. Total time for all this: 15 hours.

Audio: at player below.

  • Related: American Federation for Children & Corey A. DeAngelis include illegal alien children and “parents” in model legislation for “school choice!” 

It is important to share the fact that many well-funded “conservative” groups in Georgia are pushing hard for “school choice!” and leaving out many of the realities of the actual legislation. Some do not care about illegal immigration. Others, many others, say about the inclusion of illegal aliens in private school benefits that “if we have to educate them, we may as well give them the best education we can…”

The sound you may hear is the stampede from the southern border into the increasingly welcoming Republican state of Georgia.

Unless the Georgia state senate leadership makes some easy changes to SB 601 (the ‘Georgia Educational Freedom Act‘) the Republican-ruled upper chamber may be about to pass a bill that will include illegal alien students and “parents” in state-funded access to a private K-12 school education.

In his SB 601, Senator Butch Miller has adopted most of the model legislation language being pushed nationwide by the American Federation for Children that was contained in the now failed HB 999 and HB 60 from Rep Wes Cantrell. As we wrote yesterday, Miller’s bill was dropped in the senate on Thursday, March 3, assigned to the senate Education and Youth Committee on Friday, March 4 and scheduled for an 8:00 AM hearing on Monday, March 7. Apparently time ran out on the Monday hearing and the bill was heard and quickly passed out 6-4 this morning in a 9:00 AM committee meeting. Although there were at least two pages of names on the sign-up sheet to speak on the bill, no public comment was allowed.

First page of at least two pages of the sign up sheet to speak on SB 601. No public comment was allowed.

I was signed up (on page 2) to speak against passage of the bill in its current form and was ready to offer a real “fix”-  and alternate language. Again: SB 601 was passed out of Dalton Sen. Chuck Payne’s Education and Youth committee without any public comment. This is an increasingly common occurrence in Republican committees under the Gold Dome.

State Senator Chuck Payne.

Fact: Many, if not most, supporters of the “school choice!” bill – including many legislators, do not know what is in it.

Below I list some of the points I intended to share with the committee and the public if I had been allowed to speak.

  • According to the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security, Georgia is home to more illegal aliens than Arizona. And the leftist GBPI says we host more illegal aliens than green card holders.
  •  “The news” tells us that lots more are on their way here.
  •  Illegal immigration, like elections,  has consequences.
  •  This bill does not allow an unlimited number of K-12 students to access the $6000 scholarship to attend private school. The term “subject to appropriations…” is written in various places in the bill. This means the number of students who will receive the promised state funding to pay towards a private school education is limited to how much money is allocated from the budget by the legislature. Put another way, a lot of students are going to be left out of the promised taxpayer-funded private school benefits.
  •  The above fact is easily illustrated by the prescribed method of deciding who is chosen for benefits when funding runs out: See lines 220-224 for that method; It’s a lottery.
  • Why would legislators vote to pass a bill that will surely put illegal aliens in front of Americans in the line for the touted “school choice” process?
  • Lines 71- 75 in the bill do not spell out a real exclusion in state scholarship benefits for illegal aliens. The language is poorly researched and written, incomplete and unworkable.
  • The 1982 Plyler v Doe SCOTUS decision says states must provide a K-12 education to all children regardless of immigration status in public schools. It does not in any way require that taxpayers fund a private school education for illegal aliens.
  • K-12 students are not the only concern in SB 601. According to the language of the bill, it is the “parents” (“biological parent, legal guardian, custodian,” or other person with legal authority to act on behalf of a student”) who have the power to handle and distribute the state funds deposited in an account for the student. “Parents” also make up the committee that would be authorized to have oversight power on the funding approval process for expense items.
  • There are 307 lines of text in the bill detailing every conceivable action and responsibility involved in the “school choice!” process. There are only 4 lines that allegedly deal with keeping illegal aliens out of the system. That is because the model legislation from Corey DeAnglelis and the American Federation for Children intentionally contains no section or text on excluding illegal aliens. Somebody in Georgia who doesn’t know the immigration issue tried to create a “fix.”
  • Because there its no real language that would exclude illegal aliens in the current version of the bill (LC 49 0911) it can and would likely happen that Georgia taxpayers watch as their money goes to put illegal alien students in private schools while Americans are left behind in public schools and while illegal alien “parents” distribute state funds and have official power over state money and the scholarship program.

UPDATE, 8:10 PM: I forgot to include all of this: “To repeat: A landmark SCOTUS decision in 1982 (Plyler v Doe) requires states to offer K-12 education in public schools (not private schools) regardless of the student’s immigration status. It also prevents legally asking a K-12 student about immigration status – same for the student’s parents. You can read a summary or the syllabus.

I tried repeatedly to get a minute with the Lt. Governor’s Chief of Staff Macy McFall to explain all this but never received the hoped for phone call after two visits to the LG’s office today. I was successful in getting about a minute with Sen Miller and a staffer at an elevator to make it clear that his bill does not exclude illegal aliens. I have not yet received the promised follow-up phone call. Update, 8:43 AM March 9: I just called the Lt. Gov’s office and tried to give a heads up on all this to CoS Macy McFall – I got the brush-off. I sent her and other staffers this page via email. Update, 10:40 AM, March 9: Ms. McFall has emailed me to say she is reviewing my write-up.

Thank you Senator Mike Dugan

I am grateful to Senate Majority Leader Mike Dugan for interrupting his lunch to speak to me in the hall so that I could give him and his CoS a heads up. My announced goal was to insure that there are no pleas of ignorance if the Republican senate passes SB 601 without major changes involving illegal immigration.

We have a real “fix”

While I am happy to send line-specific language, the general idea is that the scholarship should be made available to U.S. citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents only. The term “lawful presence” should be struck and there must be wording that requires the “parent (s)” of the eligible student to provide proof of the same status as the student.

I wrote it up here more than month ago.

 

 

 

 

Latest Scandal: Alien Uses Money Stolen from Feds to Pay for EB-5 Visa

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“He filed for seven loans in the Paycheck Protection and Economic Injury Disaster Loan programs, six of which were successful for $5,151,497…”
By David North on February 28, 2022

Some may regard it as bad enough that aliens are able to buy green cards with the aliens’ own money in the EB-5 (immigrant investor) program.

Others may think it worse that one can do so with borrowed money.

But most would agree that in the worst-case scenario an alien would seek a green card with money stolen from the federal government.

In a story not yet picked up by the financial media, this is exactly what happened in California last week. Reddy Raghav Budamala, 35, of Irvine, Calif., set up three shell companies with no operations, used them to “fraudulently obtain more than $5 million in COVID-relief” loans, some of which were forgiven by the feds, and then proceeded to make a $970,000 payment to the EB-5 program, according to a press release from the U.S. attorney in the central district of California.

Budamala must be a non-green card holder and a non-citizen or he would not have dealt with the EB-5 program. He also must have made an investment in the non-pooled investment part of the program given the dollar figure shown, because $500,000 investments were the norm in the part of the program shut down by Congress last summer. Details, usually found in the courts’ PACER files, are not available as a PACER file has not yet been set up for this case, though Budamala, regarded as a flight risk, is currently in jail.

Given his first name, Reddy, he is probably from South India, the home of many H-1Bs. And one of his companies, Hayventure LLC, filed for and got an H-1B certification in 2019, for a chief technology officer, according to myvisajobs. Perhaps that job was filled by Budamala.

According to the press release, he was a busy guy. He filed for seven loans in the Paycheck Protection and Economic Injury Disaster Loan programs, six of which were successful for $5,151,497, failed when he filed for a U.S. passport (suggesting, again, that he is a non-citizen), bought a (presumably modest) $597,585 property in chic Malibu, and opened a $3 million brokerage account. Federal agents searched his home in Irvine on February 25, and he was stopped at the U.S. Mexico border early the next morning.

As I have noted before, the EB-5 program attracts an interesting group of people.

Transcript GA Gov Brian Kemp on the Martha Zoller radio show – Feb 18, 2022

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Video above from Kemp’s 2018 campaign

 

Georgia Gov Brian Kemp on the Martha Zoller radio show Feb 18, 2022. Transcription by Rev.com

Martha Zoller: (00:06)
It is the Martha Zoller show. Shaun [inaudible 00:00:08] here with me, and Governor Brian Kemp is here with me today. As he travels around Northeast Georgia, he’ll be, uh, heading over to Avocado’s today at 10:30 for a meet and greet and then you’ll be all over North Georgia today. Welcome, governor.

Brian Kemp: (00:24)
Hey, good morning, Martha.

Martha Zoller: (00:25)
So how-

Brian Kemp: (00:26)
It’s a great day to be in Northeast Georgia.

Martha Zoller: (00:28)
It is a great day to be in Northeast Georgia. So, um, how is the session going from your perspective?

Brian Kemp: (00:35)
Oh, I think it’s going great. You know, we were off and running with our agenda. A lot of other good things the legislature’s doing, whether it’s more work to go after street gangs in our state through funding at the Attorney General’s office and in the GBI. You know, mental health reform with Speaker Ralston has rolled out. Working on a just incredible budget to continue to support our educators and men and women in law enforcement and just a lot of other great things that we’re doing.

Martha Zoller: (01:02)
So I do have a concern about the level of spending. And while I know we don’t spend more than what we have, okay, I, I, I get concerned that on the other side of this high we’re on, which, you know, there will be another side at some point in time, d-… are… do you feel comfortable that we’ve got enough in the rainy day fund, and that we’re gonna have enough reserves, if anything, you know, if the economy… if we were to go to war with Ukraine and the economy tanks, who knows?

Brian Kemp: (01:32)
Well, that’s why we’re giving you back 1.6 billion, Martha. You know, the government’s got more than it needs right now. Is why I said in my state, the state, that we’re gonna return $1.6 billion to the taxpayers. Every taxpayer that paid taxes last year is gonna get at least $250 back. If you filed as a family, you’ll get 500. Uh, our fund balances are as full as they’ve ever been. Our reserve funds are as full as they’ve ever been, at the highest limit that the law allows.

Brian Kemp: (02:02)
Uh, you know, and we’re, we’re, we’re restoring austerity like for the university system of Georgia, but in return for that, they’re gonna waive a $500 semester fee that Georgia parents and Georgia students have been paying. So, we’re making, you know, substantial investments in the future of our state. But I’ll, I’ll remind you, when you take out high our education in Georgia, we still have the same number of state employees that we had in 2008. So we’re not growing government, we’re making it more efficient. We’re doing more with the people we got. We’re obviously having to pay them more in this market. That’s just the world that we’re in. Uh, but they’re also doing more. So they’re deserving of that.

Martha Zoller: (02:42)
You know, I know, and in your first election you talked a lot, we talked a lot about immigration reform and the things that needed to be done. And I, I don’t think that anybody could deny that, that the direction of all that has changed because of what’s been happening almost af- after, on the last 15 months at the border. So what is, you know, what should people expect as far as immigration reform in the state right now?

Brian Kemp: (03:09)
Well, I think the best thing that I can tell people is, look, we are in the fight at the Southern border. We’ve had national guard troops there, well over 100, over 200 at one point for well over a n-… year now. I’ve been there four different times, getting brief, briefs, investing with our troops that are doing a great job of supporting the border patrol. The problem is, the federal policy, as you know, right now is just a disaster. Uh, it’s gone from an immigration crisis to a mass migration, you know, this trauma event, quite honestly.

Brian Kemp: (03:43)
I mean, it’s, it’s, it’s terrible what’s happening. I mean, they’re using children down there as passports, the drugs cartels are. And, and is, you know, it’s really bad when drug cartels are moving people as much as they’re moving drugs, because they’re making just as much money doing that. And it’s all ’cause the Biden and, you know, abandoned president Trump’s policies [inaudible 00:04:05] working down there. Like building the wall, you know, returning people back to where they came from and making sure we had the proper number of, you know, personnel down there on the border. And that’s just not [inaudible 00:04:17] are right now. It’s the Republican governors that have been pushing back against that and doing everything that we can to help stop it.

Martha Zoller: (04:23)
So you and, you and Marty-

Brian Kemp: (04:26)
[crosstalk 00:04:26] airports.

Martha Zoller: (04:26)
Go ahead. Sorry. Governor?

Brian Kemp: (04:30)
We’ve been in-

Martha Zoller: (04:31)
Yeah, there you are. Are you there governor? Governor Kemp?

Brian Kemp: (04:39)
Yeah. Sorry. I got in a little bad spot.

Martha Zoller: (04:40)
That’s okay. I know the road very well (laughs). Listen-

Brian Kemp: (04:42)
Yeah. My apologies.

Martha Zoller: (04:42)
Uh, no, no worries. I wanted to also… you, you alluded to it about children coming across the border and, and also women coming across the border. You and, and Marty have been working very hard on, uh, the human trafficking issue and, and really, I think it’s slavery for the 21st century, this, this human trafficking issue that we’re dealing with. Um, tell us a little bit about that.

Brian Kemp: (05:09)
Well, we have been… I hope I still got you, Martha.

Martha Zoller: (05:11)
Yes.

Brian Kemp: (05:11)
Uh, Marty’s been doing as much as anybody in the country at the state level to end human trafficking and also support the victims. And we’ve done six, seven pieces of legislation now. We have, uh, the one we’re working on this year that will allow, that when these folks are arrested, they can’t just get out on any kind of bail. There has to be a superior court judge that will set to fail for that. No catch and release and, you know, just allowing people to get out, go right back to trafficking and, and doing modern day slavery, as you said. It’s horrible, uh, what’s going and on out there.

Brian Kemp: (05:42)
And it’s a lot more, uh, there’s more presence there than people realize, but the state of Georgia is really leading the country and the policy initiatives to end it, but also not only that, but helping support the victims like it’s expunging their records and other things, ’cause they’ve been forced into crimes, uh, in no fault of their own. And um, it’s good work we’re doing. And we got more to do in this session. We’ll, we’ll be continuing that.

Martha Zoller: (06:07)
So just give us an update on the campaign governor, and, and really what’s what it’s like traveling around the state, what you’re no stranger to. I mean, you’ve been traveling around this state for 15 years.

Brian Kemp: (06:19)
Well, it’s awesome. We’re going to, you know, Gainesville, Cornelia, Clayton and Cleveland today. Uh, we started out in Athens at a… did a great new habitat, humanity house on the official side of things. We’re on the campaign trail. The rest of the day I’ve got Marty, Amy Porter and the Lucy’s gonna be joining us later, and we’re just working extremely hard. We’re honored to be serving. We’re getting great feedback out there ’cause Georgians know that I’ve done exactly what I told them I would do. You know, I fought for life at the heartbeat. We’ve done adoption reform, foster care reform. We’re supporting our men and women in law enforcement.

Brian Kemp: (06:55)
We make government more efficient. You know, we’ve cut taxes, we’re supporting the military and our veterans with a veteran’s tax cut this year. And just, you know, continuing to do, we’re working on constitutional carry. You know, that’s something that I have campaigned on, and we’re just gonna continue doing what I promised people I would do. And, uh, you know, hadn’t even mentioned the economy, it’s as red hot as it’s ever been in Georgia. Lowest unemployment rate history of our state, uh, lowest of the 10 most popular states. And last year in a record year, we did projects and, you know, meeting counties around our state. 74% of the deals that we did were outside of the 10 Metro counties, making sure that places like Northeast Georgia and the hardworking folks there have great opportunity in this state.

Martha Zoller: (07:41)
Absolutely Governor Brian Kemp, good luck to you. And um, I won’t be able to come down because I’m on the air, but I will look forward to seeing you soon.

Brian Kemp: (07:51)
Thanks, Martha, [inaudible 00:07:53].

Illegal immigration in Georgia & SB 448 – perhaps the most, um… ‘incomplete’ bill for 2022 in the Georgia state senate #ButchMiller

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Sen. Butch Miller, SB 448 sponsor. Photo: Ga General Assembly

We like the concept! But SB 448 looks like a campaign bill to me. While it calls for a “citizenship status” check to determine if a “detained” and/or arrested individual is “lawfully present” in this country, it doesn’t go any further in explaining exactly how the law enforcement officer would go about that status check. Not even by saying the documents on the subject’s person should be used. I struggle not to type “poorly written.” Oops.

Maybe the sponsors could refer to this? See also 8 USC 1304

We again feel compelled to remind all concerned that “lawfully present” is a term that is not defined by congress in the INA.

The 11th circuit court of appeals of appeals weighed in on that in 2019.

But…what, exactly does the LEO do with the information if it looks like the subject is an illegal alien? Maybe nothing?

And why would we watch as yet another law like this is even discussed when OCGA 42-4-14 is ignored? 

Progress would be to actually add a written penalty to OCGA 42-4-14.

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“SB 448  ( LC 28 0368 )

Law Enforcement Officers and Agencies; peace officer in this state who lawfully arrests an individual with or without a warrant or as the result of a traffic stop shall check such individual’s citizenship status; provide”

“First Reader Summary

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 1 of Title 35 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general provisions regarding law enforcement officers and agencies, so as to provide that each peace officer in this state who lawfully arrests or detains an individual with or without a warrant or as the result of a traffic stop shall check such individual’s citizenship status to determine if such individual is lawfully present in this country; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
“BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:  
SECTION 1.  
Chapter 1 of Title 35 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general provisions regarding law enforcement officers and agencies, is amended by adding a new Code section to read as follows:  
  
“35-1-24.  
Each peace officer, as such term is defined in Code Section 35-8-2, in this state who  
lawfully arrests or detains an individual with or without a warrant or as the result of a  
traffic stop shall check such individual’s citizenship status to determine if such individual  
is lawfully present in this country.“

Sponsors

No.Number in list Name District
1. Miller, Butch 49th
2. Mullis, Jeff 53rd
3. Gooch, Steve 51st
4. McNeill, Sheila 3rd
5. Payne, Chuck 54th
6. Hickman, Billy 4th
7. Burns, Max 23rd

More on Rep Wes Cantrell’s HB 60 & HB 999 – his secret verification system will not work *School choice

By

Rep Wes Cantrell, Republican, Woodstock

 

K-12 “school choice” for illegal aliens is a bad idea 

“School choice” is a good idea. But illegal aliens should be excluded from taxpayer-funded private school tuition benefits.

You can become familiar with the issue here.

Below are a few nuggets from Rep Wes Cantrell and a bit of simple legal reality. We will now sit back and watch the Gold Dome Dog and Pony Show on”school choice” in a state with more illegal aliens than Arizona.                        

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We are told that Rep Cantrell’s bill (s) “specifically prohibits those who are here illegally from participating in the (scholarship) program.” Where? What line number?

We assume Rep Cantrell means the “Promise Scholarship” proposed in HB 60 and HB 999. We see no language like that in either bill. There should be. All Cantrell has done is refer to a verification system in a state law, OCGA 50-36-1, which is unworkable for this purpose.

FACT: OCGA 50-36-1 does not require anyone to produce documents that prove lawful presence.

Rep Wes Cantrell is telling constituents and presumably other Republican legislators (it’s apparently still a secret to the Democrats, as he hid it in his committee presentation on HB 60 that saw zero public comments) that OCGA 50-36-1  (“the verification law”) “requires a person to provide proof they are lawfully present in our state in order to receive public benefits.”

Screen shot from Facebook

It doesn’t.

The term “lawfully present” which, as noted by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, is not defined anywhere in the INA, refers to presence in the United States, not Georgia.

Presumably, Cantrell is referring to the section of the verification law that requires the applicant for public benefits to provide at least one “secure and verifiable document” as defined in OCGA 50-36-2.  That affidavit can be seen here from the Georgia AG office website. It is clear that the secure and verifiable documents “may not be indicative of residency or immigration status.” Cantrell is wrong.

It should be noted that the intent of the legislation that created this part of the law was to require applicants to produce documents that provide proof of immigration status or U.S. citizenship.

FACT: OCGA 50-36-1 will not serve to verify eligibility of K-12 students for a state private school scholarship

The verification law was written to verify eligibility of adults or individuals near the age of eighteen. “…if the applicant is younger than 18 years of age at the time of the application, he or she shall execute the affidavit required by this subparagraph within 30 days after his or her eighteenth birthday.”

Neither the application nor the affidavit would have any effect in holding a 4th grader (for example) responsible for the accuracy of the information entered or the documents submitted. Unless the state somehow decides to prosecute a kid for false swearing.

There is no provision for anyone except the applicant for (and recipient of) the public benefit  to complete the application or the affidavit. Repeat: There is no provision for parents to complete or sign anything. While I cannot find it now, I have seen Cantrell tell at least one person on a Facebook exchange that “the parents would sign the application for the student…” or words to that effect.

  • Related: Rep Wes Cantrell’s latest “fix” for HB 999 & HB 60… isn’t

 

Cantrell’s unworkable verification solution could pave the way for massive fraud

The law says that mere completion of the application will serve as “presumed proof of lawful presence” until the information submitted attesting to eligibility is verified by the SAVE program. USCIS would not likely consider a query based on a second party signature on an application or an affidavit. Which means the SAVE program would not be completed.  It is very probable that if Cantrell’s legislation were to become law as it is as I write on Feb 8, 2022 that the “verification system” Cantrell has set up would go no further than a K-12 student (or parent/guardian/custodian) signing off on an application completed by a parent/guardian/custodian and be filed away as a finished product because the SAVE program was never run.

State officials should carefully consider the obvious shortcuts, falsehoods and omissions involved in Cantrell’s plan

Is the “Promise Scholarship” a clear “public benefit” for USCIS?

Curious readers (not many of those in the House Education committee) will need to know the people at USCIS who run the SAVE program must have clear authorization and citation of a statute to verify the eligibility of the applicant for a specific public benefit. OCGA 50-36-1 lays out a list of public benefits that includes “grants” and “state grant or loan.” While the proposed “Promise Scholarship” in HB 60 and HB 999 may in fact fit into one of those two categories for the state purposes, it is not at all clear that it is specific enough for the USCIS staff to operate the SAVE reporting. In early February 2022 I spoke at length with a senior USCIS staffer in the Trump administraton several times on this topic.

As is stated above, under state law, if there is no SAVE check, the affidavit is regarded proof enough for the “verification.”

All of the above is predicated on the presumption that the Plyler v Doe SCOTUS decision and the far left would allow the state of Georgia to ask K-12 students and/or their parents about immigration status. Alabama tried that and was rebuffed. There is a much simpler way to do this.

We don’t see anyone taking the time to create a workable bill. What will happen if this train wreck were to make it to Gov Kemp’s desk and he had to veto it as unworkable (as if) after the Republican base was all “school choice!” juiced?